Seoul's Shadow over Anthropic's Mythos: Telecom Giants and the New Era of AI Export Controls

In the weeks leading up to Anthropic’s decision to place its flagship AI model, Claude Mythos, into a self‑imposed blackout, the U.S. administration ordered SK Telecom to revoke access, citing suspected Chinese connections. The directive arrived just days before Anthropic announced it would temporarily suspend external access to Claude Mythos, a precautionary step amid heightened scrutiny of AI export pathways. The move illustrates how export‑control regimes are evolving into the new frontier of great‑power competition, turning AI models into strategic choke points. By cutting SK Telecom’s link to Claude Mythos, Washington signals that even the pipelines feeding domestic firms are vulnerable, casting doubt on the resilience of South Korea’s AI ecosystem and the global supply chain that underpins tech giants. This measure also deepens the perception of a technological encirclement of China, prompting Seoul to seek alternative partnerships with European or Japanese AI providers while navigating the risk of secondary sanctions. This episode fits a broader pattern that began with the 2019 Huawei ban and was reinforced by the 2022 CHIPS Act, which expanded the definition of ‘dual‑use’ technology to include large language models. South Korea, traditionally a trusted U.S. ally, now faces a delicate balancing act: it must reconcile its economic ties with the United States against its commercial relationships in East Asia, while firms race to secure non‑Chinese AI solutions to avoid the threat of secondary sanctions. In the coming months Seoul may accelerate its ‘AI Korea’ initiative, developing domestic foundation models that can operate without foreign licences, while Washington could tighten exemption criteria, creating a tiered access system that privileges trusted allies. Such a bifurcated landscape may complicate cross‑border collaboration, forcing AI developers to navigate divergent regulatory regimes and potentially slowing the pace of innovation.